Young Avs ‘want to go through a wall’ for their bench boss Patrick Roy

Ken Warren, OTTAWA CITIZEN01.07.2014

Head coach Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche leads his team against the San Jose Sharks at Pepsi Center on January 4, 2014 in Denver, Colorado.Doug Pensinger
/ Getty Images

Head coach Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche looks on from the bench as his team was defeated 4-1 by the Florida Panthers at Pepsi Center on November 16, 2013 in Denver, Colorado.Doug Pensinger
/ Getty Images

DENVER, Colorado — Once upon a time, Patrick Roy took centre stage in the Colorado Avalanche net.

Now Roy’s presence looms large behind the bench for the National Hockey League’s most surprising team.

He’s intense. He’s colourful. And he has quickly developed the type of one-on-one relationships that have his young Colorado Avalanche charges labelling him as the ultimate players’ coach.

Then there’s the all around aura stemming from his Hall of Fame career as a goaltender for the Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens.

“It’s kind of weird, going on the road and him being the most popular guy when we get to the hotel,” talented Avalanche centre Paul Stastny said with a laugh Wednesday.

If that attention is due to his playing days, Roy has certainly earned quick respect as a successful NHL coach. The Avalanche opened the season with six straight wins. They were 12-1 and 14-2 before they finally tasted a losing streak. Colorado went into Wednesday’s game against the Ottawa Senators with a 26-12-4 record, comfortably holding on to the third spot in the Central Division.

Matt Duchene, the slick centre/left winger who earned himself a spot on Canada’s Olympic team on Tuesday, said Roy’s arrival brought a “totally different dynamic” to the organization after former coach Joe Sacco was fired.

“He said from Day 1 that he wants to be our partner,” said Duchene. “It’s not about players and coaches. It’s one whole, and you want to go through a wall for a guy like that.”

Duchene, who had a team-leading 16 goals and 22 assists before Wednesday’s game, says Roy has given him the confidence and freedom to strive for as much personal success as possible.

“He said to me at one point that he wanted me to make that Olympic team and that was one of his priorities. It’s obviously a team concept, but we’re all individuals here, too, and we’re all running our own race. The better we are as individuals, the more it helps the team, and vice-versa. He really treats us in that manner.”

It didn’t take long for Roy to illustrate how far he would go to support his players.

In his debut as Avalanche coach Oct. 2, he got into loud, heated exchanges with the officials and Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau and repeatedly slammed the glass between the benches. Roy, who was eventually fined $10,000 by the NHL for the outburst, was reacting to what he believed was a dangerous knee-on-knee hit from the Ducks’ Ben Lovejoy on star Avalanche rookie Nathan MacKinnon.

Duchene says Roy’s feisty reputation is overblown. He won’t let players get away with mistakes, but he doesn’t chew them out unnecessarily either.

“People think he’s very emotional, almost a loose cannon, and it’s totally the opposite,” Duchene said. “He’s very much in control of his emotions. Everything he does has a purpose.”

FAMILY AFFAIR

Senators goaltending coach Rick Wamsley didn’t stay at the team’s hotel in Denver. Instead, he spent a few nights with his daughter, his grandchildren and his son-in-law, who just happens to be Andre Benoit, the former Senator and now Avalanche defenceman.

While the Senators didn’t resign Benoit before he became a free agent last summer, Benoit hasn’t looked back, establishing himself as a top four defenceman and a regular on the Colorado power play.

“I have no complaints, the hockey is really good and I’m really enjoying the city,” said Benoit, who grew up in St. Albert. “It has been great, having the opportunity to play lots and be a big part of it and I keep trying to expand on (my role).”

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Young Avs ‘want to go through a wall’ for their bench boss Patrick Roy